The railway innovation cluster Railway Innovation Hub, the Naval Maritime Cluster of Cadiz and the aerospace cluster Andalucía Aerospace have organized the II Meeting of Aerospace-Railway-Naval Clusters, held on April 20 at the Parador Hotel Atlántico in Cadiz with more than a hundred companies attending from the three strategic sectors of transport in Andalusia, including M&M Group, a member of the maritime and aerospace associations.
The meeting was introduced by the presidents of the three organizing entities: Antonio Gómez-Guillamón (Andalucía Aerospace), Laura Tordera (Railway Innovation Hub) and José Luis García-Zaragoza (Clúster Marítimo Naval de Cádiz). These representatives agreed on the value of the role of the sectoral clusters as driving agents of initiatives and projects of Innovation and Development. They have also offered to those responsible for the regional administration to collaborate in plans that promote such strategic industrial sectors for Andalusia. Another point of agreement has been to highlight the possible synergies between the three sectors and the business opportunities that can arise from collaboration between different companies.
The Councilor for University, Research and Innovation of the Regional Government of Andalusia, José Carlos Gómez Villamandos, was in charge of officially opening the event. In his speech, he announced the implementation of an Andalusian regulation to favor clusters in terms of financing, training and internationalization.
Regarding the institutional presence, the event was also attended by the general secretaries of Industry, Cristobal Sanchez, and Innovation, Pablo Cortes, as well as the delegate of the Government of the Board in Cadiz, Mercedes Colombo, and the delegate of the State for the Free Trade Zone of Cadiz, Francisco Gonzalez.
After the institutional opening, a Round Table on Hydrogen and Alternative Fuels was held with the participation of Francisco Montalban, President of the Andalusian Hydrogen Cluster, Antonio Zafra, General Secretary of the Andalusian Hydrogen Board, Sara Oliveira, responsible for Hydrogen Technologies at Navantia, and Javier Hinojal, from ALSTOM, representing the railway sector.
The speakers explained the main initiatives, challenges and difficulties that are being faced in each of their sectors to reduce emissions and transform production processes with renewable and clean energies, with special emphasis on innovation projects for future use of green hydrogen. In all three sectors very important investment efforts are being carried out in this sense.
Finally, the event was closed by the Councilor of Industry, Energy and Mines of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Jorge Paradela, who highlighted the role of the clusters and the importance of these three sectors, located “at the heart of the industrial strategy of Andalusia”, in addition to highlighting the momentum that is being made from the Andalusian community in the commitment to clean energy.
At the conclusion of the event, attendees had the opportunity to arrange B2B meetings with companies of their interest, in order to explore cross-business opportunities and future collaborations. More than 100 meetings were held.
